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Cigarette Smoke Exposure Affects Bone Mineral Density

Wednesday, February 26, 2014 (Last Updated: 02/27/2014)

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 26, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Exposure to cigarette smoke (passive or active) is associated with lower bone mineral density (BMD) in the femoral neck and lumbar spine of men, according to a study published in the Feb. 15 issue of Spine.

Sungkyu Lee, Ph.D., from the National Evidence-based Healthcare Collaborating Agency in Seoul, South Korea, and colleagues analyzed data from 770 males (>30 years) participating in the cross-sectional Fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Relationships between tobacco exposure, as determined by urine cotinine, and BMD in femoral neck and lumbar spine were evaluated.

The researchers observed a significant decrease in the means of femoral neck BMD with increasing age (P < 0.001). A similar trend was seen in lumbar spine BMD. Education and income correlated with femoral neck T score, while only education was associated with lumbar spine T score. Active smokers or those exposed to secondhand smoke (urine cotinine level >10 µg/mL) had lower femoral neck T score than those with cotinine levels of ≤10 µg/mL (P = 0.114). Age, urine cotinine level, and body mass index were statistically related to femoral neck and lumbar spine T score in multiple linear regressions.